How to have a Satisfying Wedding Experience
How to have a Satisfying Wedding Experience
In the days following their weddings, most brides and grooms reflect on the experience a great deal – what worked, what they wish they had done differently, what they would do if they could do it all over. In our years of wedding photography, we have seen one thing that makes a wedding successful. Attention to Detail.
Wedding planning can be maddening because most couples haven’t done it before. Yet, they need to create one of the most important experiences of their lives! Attention to detail which starts long before the actual event, is critical. If a bride is not naturally a good record keeper or organizer, this is the time to get someone to help.
The second most important thing is not to procrastinate, but to act decisively. That can be difficult when you don’t feel like you know what you’re doing. If ever there was a time in your life to renounce procrastination, wedding planning is it. Book your venue, your photographer, your officiant, your caterer etc., as early as possible. Ask them to help you think everything through. In photography, engagement sessions are particularly helpful in the realm of attention to detail. A photographer who is shooting your photos for a second time will know how the camera sees you. All people are photogenic with an excellent photographer, especially if he or she has the advantage of time. The secret to a satisfying wedding experience is Attention to Detail…Now!
 
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Why is Fall a Great Season for Weddings?
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Why is Fall a Great Season for Weddings? |
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How to Handle the Two Key Areas of Wedding Planning
How to Handle the Two Key Areas of Wedding Planning
Undoubtedly, wedding planning is stressful for numerous reasons. Cost is certainly one of them. Since most couples only plan a wedding once (hopefully) or twice in a lifetime, they have a lack of experience that sometimes yields disappointment after the event is over. There are two areas which should be handled carefully in wedding planning to assure a happy future.
One area is in the handling of family, especially future in-laws. Although each couple should be true to themselves in creating the wedding that suits them, including family in the process can influence relationships for years to come. Try to include all of your new family in your wedding planning in some way, however small. Be patient with those whose help feels like interference. In the end, everyone just wants to be happy.
The second area is in the realm of photography. The photos you have taken grow in value as the years go by. They capture this essential experience in your life as nothing else can. Imagine looking through them on your 20th wedding anniversary. Choose a photographer that will take exquisite care in photographing your unique wedding experience.
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Lake Erie Locations for Romantic Photos
Include Lake Erie in Your Wedding Photo Plans
Our magnificent Great Lake Erie with its rocky shoreline and fascinating cliffs create a natural and stunning background for engagement and wedding photos. The lake and its shore are millions of years old so that in photos, the continuity of nature supports the beautiful ideal of endless love. Sunset photos are fabulous for the play of color and light. The grand expanse of the water itself is a magnificent background as well. Plus our great city on the lake provides wonderful wedding or engagement backgrounds.
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It’s Your Time! Shine Among Your Loved Ones
It’s Your Time! Shine Among Your Loved Ones
Brides do crazy things when preparing for their wedding day…like not eating the day or two before the wedding. That can result in the bride’s brain not working when she needs it most or feeling faint. Grooms party too much at bachelor parties with hangovers that are still present on the big day. Don’t do those or other unhealthy things! Remember, your wedding day is the day for your most radiant self to shine. Your joy and happiness should be like a glorious sunrise over the crowd of loved ones who have gathered to support you. There may have been millions of weddings in the history of mankind, but this one is YOURS. Prepare to be your most beautiful self on the outside in your wedding clothes, but more importantly, on the inside in your heart where love resides. When you look back at your wedding photos on your first anniversary, we want you to look with pride on how brightly your inner and outer light shone on that day.
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Engagement Photos Can Show What You Both Love
Engagement Photos Can Show What You Both Love
When you and your betrothed share a great love for a place or city, a team, a particular hobby, or experiences, they can be captured in engagement photos that your friends and family will enjoy. Plus, you'll love looking at them decades after they are taken. Engagement photos are a slice of life that is usually more in line with your everyday life, whereas wedding photos are one particular day in your life. Give some thought to what you wear and where you want to be for your engagement photos. They should communicate your happiness at the great news of your impending wedding, as well as the life you will share in your future.
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Wild About Pink!
Wild About Pink!
Wedding color fads come and go, but the reality that women and wedding stuff look pretty in pink doesn't. Pink is a happy color, who doesn't love the pinks in a sunset sky? Pink is mesmerizing and timeless. It's truly perfect for a summer wedding, but it can be dazzling in a winter wedding when everything is a bit drab. There are numerous shades of pink that can be used in a wedding color scheme. It can even blend into purple, as the photos show. Think pink if you're planning a wedding, especially if you think it's not your color. You might be surprised by the power of pink!
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Wedding Venue Inspiration!
Venue Inspiration!
Northeast Ohio is full of wonderful places for engagement and wedding photography. Here's a sample our clients have chosen. Many are good spots for engagement photos too! Email us for our list of great locations.
Cleveland Sign
The Arcade in downtown Cleveland
Pier W
East Fourth Street
Cleveland Museum of Art
Heinen's of Downtown Cleveland
Lake Erie
Miller Nature Preserve - Lorain County Metro Parks
Schoepfle Garden
The Cultural Gardens
Olmsted Falls East River Park
Progressive Field Cleveland Indians
Renaissance Cleveland Hotel
Edgewater Park
How to Find a Wedding Dress Style That's Absolutely You
How to Find a Wedding Dress Style That's Absolutely You
Except for preparing for the birth of a child, planning for a wedding has more components than just about any other one-day event in your life. Choosing your wedding dress is one of the most important choices, and it can be very difficult. Not only will you wear the dress for many hours, it’s usually not the kind of dress you’re used to walking around in. The ceremony is often a small part of the entire wedding and reception day, but brides usually focus on it when they’re selecting a dress. Be sure to think through wearing that dress all day and dancing in it. (Some brides choose two dresses, one for the wedding and one for the reception.)
Looking at pictures of other brides to see what styles are available is helpful, but there are other ways to approach finding your own style. Think about your life, what kind of things bring you joy? Are you a nature lover, or a sophisticated city lover? Do you love shopping for clothes, or keep wardrobe selections as simple as possible? When you’re looking at pictures, don’t look at the face, try to see your face and your body in the photo. When you’re looking through dresses in stores, use your power of imagination. If you can easily see yourself moving about in a particular dress, then that may be your style, if not, then move on. Your true style emanates from within you. Your dress should be one that makes you feel good physically, mentally, and emotionally, and reflects your personality. Your photography will come out better when you look and feel comfortable and attractive in your chosen dress.
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How to Prepare Your Wedding Hair for All Kinds of Weather!
How to Prepare Your Wedding Hair for All Kinds of Weather!
In the months before your wedding, you may be perusing wedding magazines or online sites dreaming of the upcoming event of your life. You’ll probably see lots of intricate hairstyles that you love and can even see yourself wearing. You want to look your most exquisite self on your wedding day, and you can…with planning. So remember when you’re sitting in a comfortable spot dreaming, that the actual day of the wedding could have weather that affects your hair. In seasons where humidity can be high, think about wearing your hair up if possible. Muggy days can make hair frizzy. Even if the event is all indoors, there will still be movement from cars or limos to indoor spaces.
Try to plan some versatility into your hairstyle early on, perhaps choosing a few different styles depending on the wedding day weather. Communicate them to your hair stylist or friend doing your hair. Also remember, that your professional hair stylist will want to create something that makes you look fabulous sitting in their salon chair, but it may not work if the weather is cranky. Stay in control of your wedding day hair destiny!
A wedding day is typically a LONG day! You’re up early to get ready, and dancing late into the night. Plan for it, so that your magnificent style at the wedding ceremony, isn’t totally shot by the end of the night. Some brides prefer to keep their hair simple and close to their everyday style. That can make the day a bit less stressful. But if you want a stunning, memorable style, go for it! Just plan for the weather, and how you can fix it if it wilts.
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How to Share Your Ideas and Dreams with Your Photographer
How to Share Your Ideas & Dreams with Your Photographer
This sounds easy, doesn’t it? You just tell your photographer who and what you want photographs of on your wedding day. He or she makes note of it and you can check that off your to-do list. Easy deal, right? No, not really, because what you see in your mind’s eye and what the photographer thinks you see may be quite different. Also, before your wedding day, you are consumed with a list of things to get done, organize and arrange. What you feel on your wedding day, and what you ultimately experience will be very different from the planning.
Photographers are obviously visual people. They see photos everywhere, whether or not they have their cameras with them. The really good ones are also skilled at seeing the potential feeling that a photo can evoke in the viewer. Since you hire a photographer to capture the joy and feeling of your wedding day, take the time to have a conversation about how the wedding appears in your mind’s eye and how you want it to feel. Do you see it as romantic - all about you and your beloved? Or, as a time for the two of you to bask in the love of family and friends? Or, do you see it as an event that you want to feel proud of? Do you feel strongly about tradition, or do you want a wedding that springs from your own creativity? What do you want? Share with your photographer, what you’re hoping to create in your life by holding the kind of wedding you hope to have. The more you and your photographer can create a shared vision, the better the resulting photography will be. This process may also help you to understand more clearly what it is you actually want in your wedding and in your life!
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How to Add Sophistication to Your Wedding or Reception
How to Add Sophistication to Your Wedding or Reception
First impressions are everything, they say. It’s certainly true of weddings and receptions, whether they’re big or small. Guests arrive with the expectation that something very special is about to happen. The visual they experience upon arrival can have great impact if planned well. Natural light is always good (especially for people photos), but artificial light can be used to create an intriguing and emotionally satisfying scene. Using colored lights to create ambiance can also be easier on the budget. Done well, lighting combined with floral arrangements will set the scene more economically than multiple floral pieces. Together, light, flowers, and artistic items will really wow the guests. And don’t forget sound! Appropriate music as guests arrive is a layer in the magic of an effective entrance.
If your budget or other circumstances lead you to having a small wedding when you really wanted a large one, use lighting to add a sophisticated, creative, and dazzling effect. Guests won’t remember the size of the wedding, but they'll remember how it made them feel.
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How to Use Nature as the Most Romantic Backdrop
How to Use Nature as the Most Romantic Backdrop
In northeast Ohio, we are blessed with one of the Great Lakes, our own Lake Erie. Wedding photography is special when taken near any body of water, even a pond, but there is a magnificence about photography on our great lake. Sunset photography is almost always exquisite because you have the backdrop of the expansive lake and the glorious sky. The palette of colors that Mother Nature creates on this background makes the most amazing photography especially when you throw people who are deeply in love into the mix! Try to time your first kiss as a couple to the time of sunset!
Why Get Married?
Why Get Married?
As wedding photographers, we meet many couples who have finally decided to tie the knot, after living together for some time. Most of us know, or know about, couples who live together and appear to have successful relationships. In general, society does not look down on couples who live together outside of marriage as it did in the olden days. Then why do people still get married by the thousands every year?
There are, of course, many financial and legal reasons to marry. Our national systems, taxes for example, generally favor married couples. Marriage makes life more secure for children in most cases. There are many religious people who marry to be more fully embraced by their communities. In short, there are numerous practical reasons to get married. However…from our observations, they are not why people marry. Couples marry, for one overwhelming and primary reason. Love. They are simply in love. That’s it! Human beings fall in love and usually, there isn’t anything they can do about it. The heart overrides the brain and romantic love emerges.
That is why the concept of “falling in love” has never disappeared since the term was coined by a poet in the 1500’s. The reality of “falling in love” existed long before the poet. Once couples fall in love, they look at all of the practical reasons they should marry and that’s what they tell their families and friends. Although the couple is believed, in the back of their minds, family and friends know the truth. The happy couple is simply head over heels in love and wants to create a new life together. Weddings are so beautiful because they are founded on love.
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How Photographers Capture the Unplanned Special Moments
How Photographers Capture the Unplanned Special Moments
It’s important for a betrothed couple to make a list of all the photos they want to be taken on their wedding day. Photographers need an idea of what and especially who should be photographed. Sometimes the dressing of the bride surrounded by her friends is a big deal; sometimes the groom wants photos with his buddies and prized car. Both want one of the most important days of their lives to be properly documented! Any good wedding photographer will do that. However, for photographers who are more romantic at heart and creative in mind, the unplanned photos will turn out to be the favorites.
It’s the glances, the tears, the tenseness, and the unexpected outpouring of joy that capture the life of a wedding. The creative photographer is always looking for them. One of the most important reasons to have a professional photographer is because he or she is constantly scanning the environment for shots; he’s not focused on the chain of events. When the audience is only looking forward at the ceremony, the photographer is looking everywhere for candid, emotional shots. Emotion is the currency of a wedding. A photographer who loves his work will zoom in on emotion in a hundred ways the marrying couple didn’t even consider. The result is often a triumph for both newlyweds and the photographer.
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